Chapter 664: The Darkest Moonless Night (Part 1)

Arriving at his carriage, Xueya Site, who was sitting on the carriage roof, said to him: "Jier, stand a bit higher and look at that patch of woods to the southwest."

Jier flipped over and climbed to the driver's seat of the carriage, turning his head to look in the direction his companion indicated.

The woods, blocked from the twilight glow by the mountain, were exceptionally dark, but right there in the shadowy forest, a hazy point of light appeared, obscured by tree trunks.

The branches, brushed by the mountain wind, swayed occasionally, slightly blocking the glowing spot, but the next moment, it could be seen again.

"It's the light of a torch."

Jier said with certainty; his eyesight was even better than Xueya Site's, a result of the Life Energy growth from Knight Training.

"Someone in the woods is watching us. Jier, it's those guys, right?"

Xueya Site poked his head out from the side and asked Jier.

Nodding, Jier responded: "That's right, beasts wouldn't light torches, and the inns along the road we saw on the way here were all destroyed and set on fire. Here, besides us, there's only those guys left."

Jier gave a cold snort: "Hmph, they really look down on us. A group of over eight hundred people—do they really think these are eight hundred sheep? Siter, take my crossbow out from the carriage to use; don't stay on the roof later, just shoot from inside the carriage canopy. Right, give me the Hunting Bow and arrows; I'll need them while riding."

Upon hearing the instructions, Xueya Site flipped down from the carriage roof, dove straight into the canopy, and handed the arrows and Hunting Bow to Jier: "What about the long weapon? Do you need it?"

Jier shoved his Two-handed Axe into the carriage, took the Hunting Bow and several bags of arrows, and said: "Hmm, sure, bring it out."

Calling over Tianxuecao, Jier loaded the Hunting Bow and arrows onto the weapon rack behind the Muan, while nearby, Xueya Site grabbed one end of the double-edged steel Long Spear, grunting as he lifted the tail of the spear out of the carriage.

Jier stood on the ground outside the carriage, grabbed the tail of the steel Long Spear with one hand, and lifted the tens-of-kilograms-heavy steel Long Spear out with a single hand.

"This thing really isn't for ordinary people to use; it's so heavy."

Jier shrugged: "That's right, can you imagine? Before I received Knight Training from Knight Kela, I had made a full-metal Long Spear, but I couldn't swing it at all, so I had to use it to exercise my body. Heh, I thought it was heavy enough back then."

It was different now; the full-metal Long Spear that felt heavy back then was just right to use now.

After adding the double-edged metal Long Spear to the weapon rack on the horse's back, Jier patted Tianxuecao's neck, telling it to stay put for now and not move around.

The brief twilight passed rapidly; because of the mountain's obstruction, the trade route in this mountain range was soon shrouded in night, with only the clouds drifting high in the sky still carrying a touch of orange-red hue.

Jier carefully observed the distant surroundings.

The woods to the north were pitch black and quiet, like a lurking beast. And to the south, across the small stream on the west side, the light of torches in the woods was also moving slowly.

Directly to the south, across the stream, was a slope of shrubs and wasteland; there were no trees, but the waist-high shrubs, flowers, and weeds were very convenient for people to hide in. The shrubs moved on the hillside without wind, rustling.

Jier rubbed his gums with his tongue; he felt that many people must be lying in ambush there.

As for the direction to the southeast, although there was a forest near the stream, the water in the stream there was deeper and not convenient for wading across. If these bad seeds were very familiar with this place, they surely wouldn't charge from there; they would definitely have to come out of the woods, first reach the open ground directly south where the stream was shallow, and then charge toward the open ground where Jier and the others were.

But the path from the stream to the open ground here was an uphill slope; if they could block people at the uphill slope, the opponent's large number of men would definitely not be able to be put to use.

That was what he thought, but Jier felt it was unlikely.

The terrain was in their favor, but the unarmed and unorganized young refugees could not intercept the bandits' attack.

"It will only turn into a close-quarters melee and a messy fight."

Jier shook his head; he didn't think these young refugees, weakened by long-term hunger, could deal with the brutal bandits. Even if they outnumbered the opponent ten to one, being defeated was only a matter of time.

Jier came to the nearest campfire and approached the young people who were listening to his orders because they had received more food: "Are you all full?"

Some felt that Jier's aura and tone were off at this moment, but they all replied that they were full.

"Very good, I want to tell you one thing; don't be nervous or make a scene when you hear it. We are surrounded by the bandits on this trade route."

As soon as Jier finished speaking, the young people by the campfire became noisy; most of them scrambled up from the ground, stood straight, and looked left and right, but it was pitch black all around, and they, suffering from malnutrition, couldn't see clearly what was in the distance at all.

"Sir, Knight Sir, you will protect us, right? Right?"

Facing such a question, Jier nodded solemnly: "Of course, that goes without saying. Everyone calm down, everyone calm down first. First, everyone grip the Wooden Stick distributed to you before eating tightly in your hands; this is the first step."

Only when Jier said this did they hurriedly grab the rough Wooden Sticks; with weapons in their hands, they felt at least slightly more settled.

Jier then said to them: "You must understand, we have many people, the bandits have few; as long as everyone gathers by the campfire, tonight will be safe. Don't think about running away or surrendering. Running away—it's just turned night, it's impossible to run alive in the dark to the White Stone City Wall Guanka; those guys will definitely arrange people in ambush on the road. And as for those who intend to surrender to the bandits, after I kill and repel the bandits, I will also kill those who surrendered to the bandits along the way. Understand?"

The young people around were frightened and kept nodding vigorously.

"Finally, you people are still quite obedient, so for your safety, if a fight really breaks out later, retreat to the side of the carriage; my companion inside has a crossbow and can support your fight. Don't run around, just fight with your backs to the carriage. We have many people, those bandits won't be able to do anything to us in the end, as long as there is no chaos."

Jier waved his hand at the crowd in front of him: "Sit down, don't think about notifying the people by other campfires. Just take care of yourselves."

Everyone listened to Jier's words and sat back down uneasily one after another; they discussed in low voices, and their hands never let go of the Wooden Sticks.

Jier walked toward Bata'er Jiaoshi; he had to give the Priest some instructions on what to pay attention to during the later battle.

"Boss, so many people, this is all shiny money."

In the continuous mountain forest north of the open ground across the road, in a forest filled with dark shadows, behind the tree trunks closest to the edge of the woods, more than a dozen bandits dressed in various ways carefully hid themselves in the shadows that could accommodate their figures.

From beside two adjacent large tree trunks, voices came.

"Shut up, talk less; have you notified the people in the south?"

The bandit leader, a sturdy middle-aged man, asked coldly.

A response came from the shadow of another tree trunk: "Everyone has been notified; those poor wretches have many people and are gathered in a group, so according to your instructions, we notified those people in the south to let them drive the people toward the road as much as possible. Only when the poor wretches are in chaos can we catch all those guys. Hehehe, there are quite a few young women inside; Boss, let's not sell these women, shall we? Everyone is not young anymore and hasn't started a family."

The middle-aged bandit leader snorted coldly: "Still want to start a family? In this time of growing chaos? Don't even think about it. As for those caught, of course, they won't just be sold like livestock; you %￥, how much money is it to keep them yourself or sell them to those who buy people? If you resell them to the Red House in the city, the value can at least double several times! Accounts must be calculated carefully, otherwise, if you don't make money or make less money later, how about the brothers hang you on a tree to feed the carnivorous birds? Remember, coins are the most reliable thing."

The person who asked earlier didn't make a sound and shrank into the shadow of the tree trunk; suppressed low laughter came from behind several tree trunks nearby: "Those greedy birds will peck at your eyeballs first."

Someone took the opportunity to add: "And then eat your 'short Dagger'."

"Bastard! It's clearly a 'long Dagger', okay?"

Amidst the laughter, someone continued: "They will peck through your belly and tear out your favorite heart, liver, and kidneys."

Finally, someone concluded: "But they will spare your skull, because for someone punished like this, there is no brain that birds like to eat."

The person being teased cursed in a low voice twice.

The subsequent horseplay was stopped by the bandit leader: "Someone, go around to the distance and then go south to remind those stupid guys in the woods in the south again to wait until these people are all asleep in the middle of the night before launching the attack."

"Boss, I'll go."

The bandit leader waved his hand, and a scout bandit wearing Banlan Vertical Chop took the order, then crouched down and dived into the dark part of the woods, his legs moving fast, and the whole person went far away quickly and quietly, except for making a little sound of vegetation collision and trampling.

After a while.

"Wait until the middle of the night? %%&*, is there something wrong with your leader's brain, or is there something wrong with yours? Those soft-legged shrimps, stinking ticks, earth-digging earthworms—do we need to wait until the middle of the night? As long as the sky is completely dark, those poor things who plow the land will be blind, and my brothers just need to charge up and can drive them all away. Hmph, when they get to a slightly darker place, with so many of them, won't they just be running around blindly in the dark?"

In the woods on the eastern side of the south of the clearing, a burly Bandit sat with his legs spread wide over the backs of several people lying on the ground, speaking "boldly" to a Bandit wearing a set of Banlan Vertical Chop.

His words immediately received the approval of the other Bandits around him.

The style of this Bandit Group was just like this: they would ambush passing pedestrians and Caravans under the cover of night, attacking head-on; if they could win, they would take everything, and if they couldn't, they would snatch a batch of the Merchant's goods during the chaos and leave.

Because they were very skilled at selecting their targets, they hadn't chewed on any truly hard bones since their establishment, but they had swallowed several small-scale Caravans whole.

They could be considered a Bandit team with quite strong numbers and strength.

Of course, in terms of quality, they couldn't compare to the team led by the middle-aged Bandit on the north side of the Shanglu; the two had different styles and different reputations.

"But that is what our boss said. If you don't follow through, I naturally can't control you, but as for the future..."

After delivering this veiled threat, the Bandit wearing the animal skin retreated. Bandits were all rough men; one couldn't directly defy them or anything, otherwise, if the other party suddenly got angry and killed him, even if the Bandit Leader avenged him later, he would still be dead, and he would be the one truly suffering the loss.

"Hmph, those guys on the Bei Mian, they just have a big reputation. If they really fought us, they wouldn't be our match at all. They really think it's the good old days? Pfft, this Shanglu is dead; no Caravans will come often. Brothers, after we finish robbing this one, we have to leave here, change places, and change the way we make a living."

The burly Bandit was not as stupid as he looked; in fact, after seeing the current situation clearly, he had long had a plan: "Stop mumbling, I know what you're worried about—isn't it just fearing that when we get to other places, we'll be attacked by other local Bandits or gangs? Let me tell you, why are there fewer Merchants here? It's because our Nanbu has fallen into chaos, and everyone has started attacking the villages and Caravans around them on a large scale. They are robbing the Caravans at the source; what's left for us to eat? Tell me, am I right? Is that the logic?"

The subordinates suddenly realized the truth and began to flatter their leader one after another.

"Enough, stop talking nonsense. We'll rob this Refugee Team today, and once we sell the people we capture, we'll find a black market to trade the money for better weapons and equipment. After that, we'll strike out; we'll rob every village we encounter, and every town we encounter. We'll strive to grow the team while we're at it, and by then, everyone will have a dozen or so men under them, haha. We'll dominate the region!"

Flattery was once again spewed out in the woods, and for a time, it was foul-smelling.

On the shrubby wasteland directly south of the clearing, the scout Bandit wearing Banlan Vertical Chop crawled along and quietly found a Bandit Leader who was lying in ambush there.

"That's how things are. Our boss hopes your team can try to drag it out until midnight before making a move. But that Fatty next door claims he will move once it gets completely dark. What do you think?"

Facing the person sent by another Bandit Group, this Bandit Leader, who was also lying behind the shrubs, snorted coldly: "What do I think? Moving when it gets dark is fine, and moving at midnight is also fine. I have no opinion, but I have only one requirement: when we move to attack in a while, don't think about making us charge in first and then casting us aside when it comes time to distribute the benefits."

"Rest assured, you know our boss's reputation; which joint operation has ever let you and your team suffer a loss?"

With a fawning smile, the Bandit wearing the animal skin said in a low voice.

But the face of the Bandit Leader beside him changed: "Which time have we not suffered a loss? You have the nerve to say that? Which time was it not you guys who took the lion's share of the benefits? We other teams only get to split the scraps. Let me tell you clearly: today's matter isn't because you invited everyone to join in, but because everyone hasn't had any business for many days and all have our eyes on these people. Don't bring out your old tricks of taking the lead to demand more benefits."

"Pfft." A mouthful of spit landed on the face of the animal-skin Bandit, but the Bandit who had been spat on did not dare to fight back.

Because the opposing group's Bandits behind the surrounding shrubs had all taken out their weapons and were staring fixedly at him.

Therefore, the humiliation had to be endured.

"Today, whoever gets what is theirs; there will be no further distribution. That's it. Once I finish this job, I won't be hanging around here anymore. Tell your boss, you guys can play here by yourselves from now on."

After speaking, the Bandit Leader waved his hand in disgust and drove the man away.

The Bandit wearing the Banlan Vertical Chop had no choice but to retreat silently and crawl away from there quietly. He grabbed a handful of grass, wiped the phlegm-filled spit off his face, snorted coldly to himself, and after his eyes darted around, he quietly ran toward the woods on the southwest side of the clearing.

In the deep woods, a Torch was inserted into a hole chiseled into a tree trunk, emitting the bright light of burning Grease.

The Bandit wearing the Banlan Vertical Chop knelt on the ground, half-suppressing a laugh, and said to the tall, thin middle-aged man who was being served by several people in front of him: "Respected King of the White Wall, this is what our leader and the other two leaders meant."

The tall, thin middle-aged Bandit called himself the King of the White Wall, claiming that he and the bloodline he inherited were the owners of a large piece of land on the east side of the Shanglu between the White Stone City Wall and the mountain range.

This was not nonsense, because the Bandits large and small who occupied this place had all heard that before Mengtuoka City became prosperous—that is, several decades ago when the Saint Hors Kingdom was first founded—one of the first Nobles to settle here had a fief in the place this man claimed.

It was just that later, as the Kingdom's provinces were delineated and Mengtuoka City, which occupied a convenient location, developed, it sent troops to occupy the White Stone City Wall Guanka left behind by the Dwarf.

At that time, the Guanka was not a Guanka, but a small town that belonged to the ancestors of this middle-aged Bandit.

The long stretch of Shanglu and land to the east of the Guanka was not so desolate and uninhabited; there were also one or two villages.

But as strength shifted, the White Stone City Wall Guanka was occupied by troops sent by the Mengtuoka Viscount, and the Earl of the Nanbu also allowed this to happen. Through a political deal, they avoided the possibility of the natural transportation hub between the two provinces being contested by military force year after year.

It was said that the Earl of the Nanbu's requirement for giving up the local area was a separate preferential right on customs duties for the Mengtuoka Viscount.

At that moment, the ancestors of this middle-aged Bandit directly turned into Bandits who plundered the Shanglu, wandering on their family's original territory. Because of their familiarity with the local area, even when Mengtuoka City sent troops to clear them out, it was ineffective and only wasted military funds in vain.

Now, with the family inheritance in his hands, the tall, thin middle-aged Bandit remained active in the local area.

"I have heard your words."

The tall, thin middle-aged man spoke unhurriedly, and a person looking like a Butler was serving him drinks nearby.

"Whatever you are willing to do, that is fine. I can see that you all intend to leave here after finishing this job. That is good. That is good. Originally, it was enough for just our family to be here."

Under the illumination of the Torch, the so-called Bandits around were all sitting on the ground holding their respective weapons; most of them were equipped with Leather Clothing, and a few had Leather Armor to wear. Their equipment and momentum were not of the same style or level as the other Bandit teams.

It was just that because this Bandit team neither accepted young Bandits who wanted to join nor did anyone ever join other groups, the team composition was very singular. The frequency of their attacks was not high, and there were even rumors that these people only picked teams with Noble backgrounds or Noble families passing through.

Following along to strike this time seemed to be because someone saw that there was a young Knight in the Refugee Team.

"Go back and tell your leader: after this evening's feast is finished, please leave promptly. A thirsty stream cannot support so many schools of fish."

The tall, thin middle-aged man waved his fingers, and the Bandit who looked like a Butler stepped forward to see the guests out.

The Bandit wearing the Banlan Vertical Chop was confused; he scratched his head, took a detour, and decided to return to his boss quickly.

Because the last trace of orange-red sunset in the sky above was about to dissipate.

The star-studded sky had no moon rising; since it hadn't risen by now, there would be no moon rising tonight.

Tonight would be a Hidden Moon day.

On such days, it is not convenient to go out, because there is danger.